Status of Rungus Language as an Indigenous Language Spoken by Rungus Ethnic Group in Eastern Malaysia

Abstract

Language shift and language maintenance as contact phenomena have received considerable attention in the realm of linguistics. The current study investigated the status of Rungus language, language of Rungus ethnic group in east Malaysia, to find out the status of this language within the Rungus local community. Synchronous unstructured interviews were conducted with twenty five Rungus educated speakers (15 males, 10 females) to elicit their attitudes about their Rungus mother tongue. Thematic analysis showed that the low status of the heritage language vis-à-vis Malay and English is evidently shown in the participants’ responses. This low status is due to various reasons such as parents’ lack of literacy, language policy, and absence of the language in the Malaysian educational system. Results of this research could argue that Rungus language is endangered and it is recommended that Rungus minority should try to maintain their language by any means otherwise it will be subject to death.